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Ishaq Duvainor
The charismatic leader/founder of the personality cult The Host Radiant, Ishaq Duvainor is a half-elf sorcerer formally associated with the university Sky Spire. Born in Raith during the summer of 675 to an elven father and human mother, Ishaq had spent the majority of his youth enjoying the thrilling splendor of Raithir urban life -- excepting the rare outing to the Sandsea, for his maternal history. While Ishaq's father had expectations of him to become a diplomat, Ishaq himself took a fascination with magic; after all, it was something literally inherent to his blood. He won a spot at the illustrious Sky Spire in the year 691, where he honed both his magical skill and his uncanny ability to hold influence over other people. Ishaq was a popular student at Sky Spire, talented and charming, often going out of his way to make friends with other acolytes who might have been older, wealthier, or more powerful than he -- and often his standard preference was "all the above". He had a reputation for his obsession with ancient Pantheon lore, particularly the highly censored stories of The Lady of the Lasting Embrace. Before his abrupt existential crisis and the consequential abandonment of his studies, Ishaq had fully submerged himself in her mythos, even going as far as to organize around that sacred, secret knowledge. His choice to suddenly leave Sky Spire without attempting the Trials was a resounding shock to his peers and professors. In the late winter months of 697, he fled from Raith down the Aelsalt Coast to begin anew in Fairsold. While he kept his namesake and virtually his identity, Ishaq nevertheless began to remake himself as a reaction to his god's scorn. The idea of the Host Radiant boiled in his mind a year before its birth, and in that meanwhile Ishaq made friends with the wealthy and powerful -- easily charming them, earning their trust and affection. The Host Radiant Just before the spring of the year 699, the first converts of the Host Radiant emerged onto the streets of Fairsold. Modest numbers swelled over the following months into summer; the Host Radiant defied social convention by crossing over and between class and stature, enticing members from all along the Raithir hierarchy. Above all else, the Host Radiant preaches self-empowerment. The values as instructed by Ishaq Duvainor focus upon manifesting individual potential, supporting community goals, and forgiveness of the self and of others when expectations falls short. After all, it is mortal to err. Only those gods who are praised above mortality must be held to standards of perfection. Beyond the warmth and invitation that the Host Radiant collectively offers, there is a sociopolitical statement behind its ethos: the powerful have a duty to protect the weak, and if the powerful fail in that duty then they shall be defied. The unsubtle parallel drawn between the living Empress and her Raithir pantheon against the Raithir people (especially those subjugated by religious or political sanction) could not be more obvious. The Host Radiant is considered an existential threat to the Empire -- the degree of that threat varies upon the opinion of whom you ask. But Ishaq Duvainor sure paid for his involvement. The Duvainor Lineage The High Elves of the Duvainor line have, for nearly four centuries now, avoided mixing with other Raithir races. Ishaq is and remains the only half-elf of his paternal family. Ishaq's father, Eliel Duvainor, overtly rebelled against this familial tradition when he fell in love and pursuit of the human fighter Genet Nahas. The marriage between Genet and Eliel, passionate and hasty, was quietly discouraged but not actively sabotaged. The Duvainor High Elves, with their generous life spans, considered the union to be little more than a fleeting mistake, with only a single child as the consequence. And they were not wrong. When Ishaq entered Sky Spire, Eliel and Genet separated from each other after years of tumult until Genet's death in 697, and then that separation took a more permanent effect. Ishaq, who had always been closer to his mother in so many ways, has yet to forgive Eliel for what he perceived as a passive betrayal. Ishaq is aware of his paternal family but does not maintain communication with them. Any ill will is one-sided, however, as the Duvainors cannot consider Ishaq a catastrophe -- something unfortunate, perhaps, but not a catastrophe. What possible problems could a child only halfway elven inspire, they wondered, especially when he is so mired in human affairs? He is nothing like the outcome of The Enticement their ancestor had committed, all those centuries before. A mistake this small could be overlooked*. In conversation with his party member Alice Warren, Ishaq has called the Duvainors a collection of "musicians, lowly politicians, diplomats. It isn't a noble line." He has yet to speak openly of his mother's family, feeling far more protective of them. *Note: this collective opinion has somewhat shifted since Ishaq's arrest and extremely public trial on charges of blasphemy held in the year 710. Campaign Events Stuff.